


Another Promise

by sleeplessink



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: ((i left the dialogue there just cuz)), (?), (it's bc i wanted to make this fic more general but ended up making it v handon-centered), @julie plec: give this poor tribrid a BREAK, Angst, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Hope cries (sorry), Hope has lived too many deaths for a SEVENTEEN year old girl, I didn’t want to make her do so at first because boy is this girl used to showing a brave face, Kaleb and Alaric both have literally one (1) line, Landon’s a lovestruck sap, Not Canon Compliant, and it’s been a very very long 24 hours ok, but she is still a CHILD, idk how tags work in ao3 byyeeee, ish idk, like starting from 1x13 I mean, mayyyybe, she is exhausted and grieving and I just wanted her to let it out, who has EMOTIONS and feels HEARTBREAK
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-23
Updated: 2019-03-23
Packaged: 2019-11-28 08:47:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18206231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleeplessink/pseuds/sleeplessink
Summary: (Takes place right after 1x13.)Landon doesn’t remember dying. Hope can’t get the thought out of her head.(She’s not really good at talking about these things, but the recent events have shaken her up just enough to try.)orLandon stays the night and Hope talks. Somewhat.





	Another Promise

Hope is silent for the entire car ride. Landon keeps sneaking glances at her, but she's only looking straight, gaze unreadable. He wants so badly to meet her eyes, to know where she stands in the midst of all these questions and confusion around him. But she's gone cold, closed herself off, and Landon simply nods quietly to himself. 

He would give her time. He had promised himself and promised her, once, to be the guy that always fights for her. And sometimes that meant giving her space to be who she needed to be in that moment. 

"Wash up and rest. It's been a long day," Dr. Saltzman behests them when they arrive back at school. 

"Back at ya Dr. S.," Kaleb replies, and Alaric smiles. He shoots every single one of them a look that speaks of worry and wear, of protectiveness, and his eyes linger on Hope before he heads back to his office.

* * * * * * * 

Landon's brushed his teeth and is on his way back to his dorm when he spots Hope. He jogs up to catch up with her as she enters her room.

"Hey, Hope?"

She turns around at the sound of his voice.

"...I had to shower three times, but I _think_ I managed not to smell like I spent an entire week at a barbecue party anymore."

It barely beckons a smile on her part, and his tentative grin washes off his face. 

"So listen, I had a question to ask you."

She nods, her features tired but still unreadable. He becomes nervous suddenly, and unconsciously wipes his hands on the side of his sweatpants before taking a breath.

"...Did I do something wrong?"

A beat passes, and before she can answer, he picks up: "It's just that MG talked to me, and there's a whole chunk of the night that my brain just erased from my memories— and I know you weren't with us, but that's the thing, I _don't_ remember; and apparently I died, and you haven't said a word to me since, so in the case where I would have said or done something wrong, or hurt you, I—" he inhales, before letting out in a breath: "wanted to apologize." 

She's looking at him with misty eyes and what he hopes is an endearing smile. But she's still not saying anything, and there's this odd mix of tiredness and adrenaline running through him, so he adds:

"I mean I know I can't apologize for something I don't know I've done, but if y—"

She's in his arms, suddenly. As he wraps himself around her in return, he can feel her head shaking from side to side in the crook of his neck. He hears her mumble something against his skin.

"Hm?" 

She takes deep breaths, like her breathing needs controlling. In the end, she pulls back, but with her arms still stubbornly around him.

"You died." 

Her voice sounds steady, but she's avoiding his gaze. Like that's the only thing that's keeping it from breaking. 

"People keep telling me that,” he tilts his head to the side. "But I'm back," he adds, a smile playing on his lips because that is so damn _cool_. "Turns out whatever my blood's made of is really set on keeping the promise I made you."

She finally meets his eyes, and his heart starts beating faster. 

"I told you I'd fight to find you again."

Hope shakes her head, halfway between beaming and disbelieving, and then her lips are on his. Landon leans into the kiss, and he cannot help but think _man_ is he glad he’s alive to feel this. 

She’s the one that pulls away, but only to get back into his arms, her ear against his chest. 

"Do you want to sleep here tonight?" she asks, looking up to him. "You probably want to sleep in your own bed, and I know Raf would feel better being in the same room as you, too, I– I get that." 

Hope lets her gaze fall down, and he wonders what's going through her head as she lifts it back to meet his. 

"But if you want, you can stay here, too." 

Something about her voice sounds so _brittle_ , he can't help but lift a hand up to delicately stroke her cheek.

"I guess Dr. Saltzman can't kick me out of the school for breaking a rule since we know I'm actually supernatural now, huh." 

His reply makes her smile, the kind that reaches her eyes and lights up her face. If he were to write in his notebook about this moment, he'd probably say something embarrassing and love-stricken about how getting to make her smile like this feels a hell of a lot like the reason he was put on this earth.

* * * * * * * 

"Are you still awake?" she whispers in the dark.

"Yeah," Landon replies immediately. He was thinking about his first night in the cellar of the Salvatore School, how Hope had told him there were a lot of things going on in that body of hers. For the first time since then, he has a feeling he understands.

"Can't sleep either?"

“Something like that.“

He hears her shuffling, and the lamp on her nightstand turns on. Landon blinks to adjust to the sudden light as she lays back down, facing him.

"Sorry," she shoots him an apologetic smile but provides no further explanation. Instead, she lets her gaze roam over his features as she lifts a hand up to his neck.

Landon looks into her moving blue eyes with a small frown, questioning. Still, she does not speak, too busy scrutinizing the curve of his lips, the shape of his eyebrows, the angles of his cheekbones. 

“…Are you okay?" he asks eventually.

"I just... wanted to see you," she swallows once, and adds almost too quietly for him to hear, “alive and breathing and all."

Something inside his chest tightens, and he lifts his head to brush his lips against her forehead, before mumbling against her skin: 

"I'm here. Alive and breathing and all." 

He hears her take a shaky breath and let out a deep exhale, as if relieved. As if it's only now that he's said it that it made it true. 

"Okay," she answers softly, before throwing her arms around his chest and burrowing against him once again. 

* * * * * * * 

They lay there in the middle of the night, her lamp still lighting their figures, their breaths falling into a steady rhythm. He thinks she might have fallen asleep when her quiet voice breaks the silence. 

"…I was passed out, when my mother died." 

Landon stills in surprise, before letting his fingers graze over her arm back and forth as to let her know she can go on. 

"I was about to run when I was knocked out. Because my mom had told me to go. She'd told me to leave her because I'm the one they wanted." 

A list of questions immediately begins writing itself in Landon’s brain, but the tone of her voice and the way she clutches onto him stops him. Instead, he keeps stroking her arm, light and steady, giving her the time she needs.

"I woke up in my room, looking for her. My aunt Freya was there. She's the one who told me she was gone.”

She sits up then, and he follows her, instantly noticing the way her blue eyes are glistening.

"I couldn't save her." She swallows, takes a breath. "Like I couldn't save you." Her voice finally breaks, but she’s still striving to keep her composure, even as a tear rolls down her cheek. Something inside of Landon’s chest shatters, and he wants so badly to tell her it’s okay to cry. That it doesn’t make her any less brave. That she’s still the most badass human-tribid-creature he knows. 

"You died, Landon.” She takes in a shaky breath. “I held you and cried over your corpse. You were cold and bloody and gone. And I couldn't save you." 

Her composure breaks at last, and a sob escapes from her chest as tears freely roll down her cheeks. Landon’s gotten his fair share of beatings in his life, but he’s not sure anything’s ever hurt the way it does as seeing the girl he loves weep. 

He’s not sure what to do, only that something inside of him is _aching_ , but he can’t help but wipe every tear that falls, a steady urgency to his movements. Somehow she ends up in his arms, and he holds on tight as she cries, one thumb rubbing circles on her back. 

“You didn’t have to,” he speaks eventually, when her breathing has slowed down. “Save me, I mean.” 

Landon pulls away, wipes remnants of tears from her cheeks, and leaves his hand there. 

“If anything, you not having to save me is something you can count on, now.” His gaze is fixed on hers as a beat passes. ”You can't get rid of me _that_ easily." 

He offers her a lopsided smile, and it manages to get a chuckle out of her, even if her eyes are still red.

"...I don't think I can promise I won't try to save you again, though," she speaks again, but this time her tone is light. "We don't know if your Danger Magnet title has been fully revoked now that you're a Phoenix. I'd rather not take any chances," she shrugs.

Landon's not sure he can explain how hearing her banter makes him feel like he can breathe again. 

"I guess there's no harm in that," he shrugs back, leaning forward.

"No harm at all?"

"Well. As long as you know I'm not going anywhere any time soon." 

She smiles at him, softly, an inch away from his face.

"Then no harm at all."

He kisses her, then. Soft, but firm. Another promise.

(That he won’t let her go. That he will always come back to her. That that’s something she can count on.) 

When they finally fall asleep, the sun has already begun to rise. But the exhaustion keeps their eyes shut, and both of their chests feel lighter than they have in days.

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't written a fic since I was 14, so I have no idea if this is okay? (what is Writing)
> 
> But boy is there a LACK of handon fics on here (these dumb kids make each other so HAPPY and i love seeing them in love so i love them ok, simple maths) and this has been playing around my mind since 1x13 so I thought I'd finish it up and post it. Let me know what you think~ 
> 
> (P.S.: I didn't watch 1x15 yet !! I don't know if that makes this fic sound very ooc !! But it's technically canon divergent starting 1x13, so I hope you don't mind !!!)


End file.
